Insert for a drill press table

[Beechwood Chip]

I'm making a drill press table with a recess for a disposable insert.  I've been creeping up on the depth of the recess, and I've got it so that the insert is about 1/32" above the table.  I figure that since I want the insert to back up the piece to reduce tearout, I don't want the recess to be too deep.

I'm wondering if I should keep going to try to get the insert exactly level with the table, or just leave it as is.

I suppose if I go too deep, I can always shim up the insert with playing cards or paper.

I've watched YouTube videos on making drill press tables, but they all just say, "cut a recess to fit the insert" and leave it at that.  Is there a standard technique to do this that I'm not aware of?

I'm use a plunge router with a template bit.

 

[Tom King]

I would get it the right depth so they will be flush.  Round is the easiest shape to keep getting it to fresh locations before you need to replace it, but squares are the easiest to make a stack of without having to sand the edges.

[gee-dub]

My table came with a square insert.  This allows 4 positions of use before destruction.  I made a round insert mod for it.  This allows an array of use before destruction.  The BB ply I use for my inserts is a bit different in thickness than the factory MDF insert (long since dead).  I shim it with a few sheets of paper under the insert and this method has worked well for nearly 20 years.  Sometimes the easy answer is the best answer.

[Beechwood Chip]

Thanks.  I'm using a square insert.  Rotated and flipped, I can get 8 uses out of each.  I considered round, but I didn't have a simple and easy way to batch out a bunch of identical ones.  The square ones I can make on the table saw.

I'll creep up further on the recess, and if I go to far I can always shim.  Thanks for the advice.

[Von]

I would say you ideally want the insert flush so you aren't catching things on it as you slide them around on the table. In practice, that could mean overshoot and shim. I use blue tape on the table below my insert. 

Didn't forget fingerholes or some way to pop the insert out.

When I do the next version of my table I'd like to try going round using a hole saw to cut the inserts and somehow making the hole in the table to match.

[Beechwood Chip]

By the way, does anyone have a good solution for raising and lowering the drill press table?  With my current setup, I need to walk to one side to release the clamp, then walk around to the other side to crank the table up or down, then walk back to the other side to tighten the clamp.  I don't use the drill press that much, but it offends my sense of good mechanical design.

The solutions I've found either use bevel gears to bring the cranks to the front, or replace the cranks with motors and electronics.  That's more effort than I want to put in.

I'm vaguely considering buying an inexpensive height adjusting desk.  But I don't want to be the first to try it.  I'm going to suggest it to Matthias Wandel, maybe he'll make a video.  [EDIT: after composing the email and looking through his site, I decided not to bother him.]

 

[Von]

On 7/25/2024 at 10:10 AM, Beechwood Chip said:

By the way, does anyone have a good solution for raising and lowering the drill press table? 

I did the motorized route and I replaced the locking lever with a cam clamp. Yeah, the motor was a fair amount of work - I will say I found it fun and it was worth it for me. The cam clamp was easy and saves me a lot of futzing reaching around the table to lock/unlock the table - I recommend doing that.

Before I did the motor, I was thinking about a another, very inelegant but simple route of keeping a stack of boards of various thicknesses by the drill press - a couple 1.5", a couple 3/4" and then 1/2" and a 1/4" say. Then instead of raising my table, I'd stack up whatever boards I needed to get the work to the height I wanted. The top board would effectively be similar to an insert and serve to prevent blow out, and hence would get replaced over time.

The downsides to this approach are obviously many. Some downsides would seem to go away if you could put the boards under the table so you still have a fence, hold downs, etc. I can imagine a pair of holes drilled in the boards that accept dowels and keep the whole thing aligned.

Anyway, not suggesting that approach as I never worked out all the issues but it's the only other option besides the two you mention I came up with.

The source of the idea btw is that fact that today if I find my table too low, and it's not super important to have the hole dead-on square or reliably positioned, I'll often be lazy and put a 2"x4" under the work instead of adjusting the table.

 

[Beechwood Chip]

On 7/25/2024 at 4:43 PM, Von said:

I did the motorized route and I replaced the locking lever with a cam clamp. Yeah, the motor was a fair amount of work - I will say I found it fun and it was worth it for me. The cam clamp was easy and saves me a lot of futzing reaching around the table to lock/unlock the table - I recommend doing that.

Hmmm, I'm planning to build a sizable cabinet under the drill press table to hold drill bits, etc, so if I decide to go motorized, now is the time to design it in.  I'm considering it.  For some reason I thought adding a motor and controls would be much for complicated.

Thanks!

[wtnhighlander]

I have a bench top drill press. My 'when I get around to it' plan include a cabinet for it to stand on, with an inverted 'U' structure to act as the drilling table. The sides of the U slide up and down the sides of the carcase, with alignment slots and some locking mechanism. The bottom of the squared-off U becomes the table. I never decided on the lifting device, but a simple scissor jack seems like a good solution.

A table that isn't clamped to the drill column just seems much more stable.

[Beechwood Chip]

On 7/25/2024 at 7:16 PM, wtnhighlander said:

A table that isn't clamped to the drill column just seems much more stable.

I thought about scissor jacks, and then Matthias Wandel did a video on modifying an electric height adjusting desk to make it narrower.

 

[curlyoak]

I have a square.The depth is 1/2" plus. there are 4 screws near thew corners. raise and lower the screws. Easy to dial it in. The screws need to be with a tight hole so it wont move.

[Beechwood Chip]

On 7/25/2024 at 10:03 PM, curlyoak said:

I have a square.The depth is 1/2" plus. there are 4 screws near thew corners. raise and lower the screws. Easy to dial it in. The screws need to be with a tight hole so it wont move.

Makes sense, since I can't guarantee that all the inserts will be exactly the same thickness.

[Von]

On 7/25/2024 at 7:42 PM, Beechwood Chip said:

I thought about scissor jacks, and then Matthias Wandel did a video on modifying an electric height adjusting desk to make it narrower.

FYI, you can buy the height adjusters for the desks separately so you can add your own top (though finding a used desk might be cheaper).

[Beechwood Chip]

On 7/26/2024 at 9:50 AM, Von said:

FYI, you can buy the height adjusters for the desks separately so you can add your own top (though finding a used desk might be cheaper).

I was looking at "base only" options, but they all had two vertical posts that were too far apart for what I wanted.  Matthias had a video where he took one and made it narrower, so I was considering that.

But the link you gave me showed a table with a single vertical post, designed to be wall mounted.  It was really expensive, but that got me thinking so I went on Amazon and found this.  $140, single post, I could skip the rolling base and connect it directly to my drill press base.  And, toss the cheap "desk" that comes with it.

Reviews say that it "wobbles", which is a deal breaker for me.  No clear whether that's because of the wheels, the base, or the post.  I could probably hack up some sort of support that slides up and down the drill press column, but at that point I might as well just put a motor on the existing mechanism, the way you did.

[Von]

I like where you are going. I think combining this with the "U table" idea for stability could work well (or at least I think it's worth a try).

[Beechwood Chip]

The price is in the same ballpark as the parts for motorizing.  If I ditch the base and the desktop, I could use this gizmo to raise and lower the existing drill press table.  And that table already rides securely up and down the drill press column.  I could just remove the toothed rack and use this instead of the crank.  I'll still have the cam-clamp if I want extra stability. 

Sounds like a plan!

Thanks for the input.

 

[Botch]

On 7/23/2024 at 6:29 PM, Beechwood Chip said:

Thanks.  I'm using a square insert.  Rotated and flipped, I can get 8 uses out of each.  I considered round, but I didn't have a simple and easy way to batch out a bunch of identical ones.  The square ones I can make on the table saw.

I'll creep up further on the recess, and if I go to far I can always shim.  Thanks for the advice.

If you have a router table, a round insert is easy to make with a pattern bit.  Although this guy used a laser engraver for the template itself, once you have that he shows how to do it on a router table:

Don't know if you came across this one in your video search; Dennis (from the Netherlands) has some really cool shop setups on his website (and free plans!)  

 

I saw one other design, a channel cut all the way across the table with a sliding dovetail bit, then just a bunch of trapezoid inserts that slide in from the side.  Another possibility.  

[wtnhighlander]

I like that single-post electric sit/stand desk option. I'd still add extra, lockable vertical supports for stability, but the memory preset could be sweet. Imagine lowerung the work to change bits, then raising back to the original spot with one button press.

And the smaller one at $107 should provide plenty of range for a drill press.

[Beechwood Chip]

The smaller one is not electric, unfortunately.  I plan to use the existing drill press table mechanism, just without the rack that goes along the drill press column.  So, I can use the existing clamp to lock everything in place.

I'm a little concerned that this won't have the ooomph to move the drill press table, but I'm willing to take the chance.  If I don't modify any parts, I should be able to return it if it doesn't do what I want.

[Von]

Chip - another thing to think about as you build your table is how much drilling of metal you plan on doing. I found the t-track and hold downs in my table not up to the job. If the bit grabbed the metal, it would rip the hold down and t-track out of my table - neither safe or functional. I added a clamp-on metal vise that spread the load out for when I work with metal. With better securing of my hold downs, I might have avoided the need for this.

[Beechwood Chip]

Thanks - that's a good thought.  If I need to do any metalwork, I'll pop off the MDF woodworking table and go back to the original cast iron table.  I'm mounting my new table to the cast iron, so it'll be simple to switch back and forth.

I've found that C-clamps and MatchFit dovetail clamps work nicely in the slots in the cast iron table.

[Beechwood Chip]

On 7/25/2024 at 10:10 AM, Beechwood Chip said:

With my current setup, I need to walk to one side to release the clamp, then walk around to the other side to crank the table up or down, then walk back to the other side to tighten the clamp.  I don't use the drill press that much, but it offends my sense of good mechanical design.

A friend pointed out that if I turned the drill press sideways, I could easily access all of the controls, and all of the warning stickers and instructions would be facing me.  Almost as if it was designed to be used like that.  I feel kinda foolish, but in my defense I've never seen anyone position their drill press with the side towards the wall.

 

[Von]

Yeah, you really do have a ways to reach around from the front. Never would have occurred to me to rotate it either.